Turn-table.



E. P. SMITH.

TURN TABLE.

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E. r. SMITH.

TURN TABLE. APPLIOATION FILED MAXI?, 1010.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

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ELMER F. SMITH, F MARION, MASSACHUSETTS.

f Specification of Letters Patent.

TURN-TABLE.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

Application filed May 19, 1910. Seria1.No.`562,211.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER F. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Marion, in the county of Plymouth and y State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Turn-Tables, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to turn-tables and particularly to automobile turn-tables adapttheir running surfaces. has chiefly todo with this central casting and its associated` parts, I have shown in Vthe drawings only such parts of the turn- "table as are necessarylto illustrate this central casting in its relation to the other parts `ed to be used `in automobile garages, factories, ete, It has been heretofore proposed to construct turn-tables of this character wholly out ofstructural steel, consisting of ordinary steel beams or girdersand steel plates, and to support such turn-tables upon a central ballbearing, with peripheral rollers or wheels.

The weight of the turn-table and its load is preferably carried for the `most part by `the central bearing, and the peripheral 20` rollers or wheels are used to prevent undue tilting of the turn-table, and, if the load `is properly balanced, are brought into play only incidentally. Turn-tables of this sort made of steel girders and plates, supported chiefly at the center, have been unsatisfactory and impractieable by reason of their tendency under a load to sag and become distorted, and to bulge at the center in the vicinity of the central bearing. It has also been found that a central ball-bearing is unsatisfactory, by reason of the slight tilt'ing of the turn-table which prevents the bearing from running true, or for some other reason.

The chief object of the present invention is to overcome these objections and otherwise improve the construction of turn-tables.

In carrying out my invention I provide an integral, central, supporting casting of novel construction for the revolving platform or turn-table proper, from which radiate the girders for supporting the platform floor. In this steel casting I provide a new and improved form of adjustable bearing by which the turn-tableI may be raised or lowered to adjust properly the relation between the peripheral rollers or wheels and As the invention of the `turn-table.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the` invention,-Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken` away, of a turn-table containing my invention; F 1g. 2 is a vertical section through the center of said turn-table, artly broken away; Fig. 3 is an enlarged) View, partly broken away, of the central part 'of said turn-table, partly in plan and partly on a horizontal section taken between the flanges of the central casting; and Fig. 4 is a vertical central section through said casting and the center bearing.

In the floor in which the turn-table is to be placed a circular pit A is made (see Fig. 2) preferably lined with cement or concrete, and sloping away from its center toward a marglnal gutter a. At the center of the pit is secured a bed plate a to which is screwed or bolted a standard a2 which supports' the center bearing of the turntable. The standard a2 is provided with a central bore a8 in which is lodged the upwardly projecting post (1,4. Instead of set- .tmg the device in a specially constructed pit, 1t could obviously be set into an aperture in the floor, and the supporting parts in the basement or next lower story of the building.

The revolving platform, or turn-table proper, comprises a latform frame consisting cf a centrally disposed, integral, supporting casting B, of cast steel or cast iron, made with an upper flange b and a lower, wider flange 2)', forming a channel between them. Secured to the central support-ing casting are the radially arranged I-beams b2, the ends of which are pressed or flattened as shown at Za to extend into the channel between the upper and lower flanges, b, b', of the casting B. Thus it will be seen that the I-beams b2, supported at their inner ends under flange b', and at a point f considerably removed from the inner bearing, by the periphery of flange b', constitute radially arranged cantalivers for the turn -table floor, thus affording a very strong and rigid construction.

A marginal recess is provided on the upblo, byV which it is turned. As the screw b9 will occupy various 'positions in the bore as it is adjusted up or down, it isl made of such dimensions that it will at all positions of adjustment terminate short of the upper end of the bore, leaving room for a screw cap 611, which closes the end of the bore and affords a level surface flush with the floor of the platform.y

Below the adjusting screw b9 Vis a hardened steel bearing-disk el made convex on its lower surface as shown. The convex surface of the bearing-disk Z engages the flat surface of the hardened steel bearing-disk d', which is supported on the top of the post a* of the standard. To hold the post ai and the bearing disks cl and cl' in alinement, a sleeve 512 is provided resti-ng on the top of the standard t2 and surrounding the upper end of the post a4, and the bearing-disks d and d. rIhe bearing-disks being 'made of hardened steel, and having exceedingly hard and highly polished surfaces, one at least of which is convex, afford a pivotal bearing between the revolving table and its supporting standard which is yexceedingly durable and which almost eliminates friction, since the bearing surfaces meet at substantially a point whether the turn-table is perfectly balanced and level or. slightly tilted. And the turn-table structure comprising the above described integral central casting Band the radial girders, is exceedingly rigid and strong and free from any tendency to sag at the periphery or bulge at the center.

' Vithin the pit A is a circular track t describing a circle about the center of the post a4; and on the under side of the platform frame is a similar' circulartrack t. Between the tracks 15 and t are the rollers or wheels 1 carried by a spider consisting of the radial arms c, the inner ends o-f which are secured to an annular plate c" which turns on a shoulder at the top of standard a2. The outer ends of the arms' o are connected by braces or ties c2.

The turn-table or revolving platform is preferably adjusted to such osition that when erfectly balanced it wi l turn on its centrabearing, and the tracks t will stand clear of the rollers r.

The desired vertical` adjustment of the central bearing may be made by turning the screw b9 within the bore of the central castin B, thus thrusting the casting and the platfC-brm frame carried thereby, upward or letting it downward to the desiredpoint. When the load'is being rolled on or off the turn-table the rollers 1' will limit the extent to which the platform will tilt, and similarly when the load is not exactly balanced the rollers r will limit the tiltof theplatform, and will also permit it to revolve, the rollers 1 turning substantialy as idler rollers between the tracks an t.

The edge of the pit A or floor aperture may be finished by a channel iron ring e,- in close proximity to the periphery of the floor of the turn-table. By providing the pit with the marginal gutter a the turn-table is well adapted to be used for washing automobiles since the gutter a will receiveand carry away water which drains from the edge of the turn-table.

I claim:

1. In a turn-table, a platform frame `comprising a central supporting casting, radially arranged girders, said casting provided with meansl engaging the upper sides of the inner ends of said girders, and with means en gaging the under sides of said girders lat points remote from their inner ends, whereby said girders constitute radial cantalivers adapted to support the platform floor, and a bearing for said casting.

2. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, provided with an upper flange and a lowerk flange, girders radially secured to said casting for supporting the floor of the platform, the ends of said girders being held in the channel between said flanges of the cast; ing, and a bearing on which said casting is journaled.

3. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising a central supporting casting provided with an upper flange. and a lower supporting shelf of suflicient breadth to serve as the middle support of a cantaliver, the end support of which is the upper flange, and radially arranged girders resting on said shelf and projecting under said upper flange, forming cantalivers adapted to support the platform floor. y

4. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, provided with an upper flange and a lower flange, girders radially secured to said casting for supporting the floor of the platform, the ends of said girders being held in the channel between said flanges of the casting, a bearing on which said casting is journaled, and lugs on said lower flange adapted to hold said girders in radial position.

5. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, girders radially secured to said casting `for supporting the floor of the platform, a bearing on which said casting is journaled,

and means to adjust said casting vertically 'with relation to said bearing.

`,floor of the platform, and a support for said casting having a hardened steel bearing surface engaged by the bearing member of the casting.

Y 7. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, provided with a bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore, means to adjust said disk vertically in said bore, and a support for said casting having a hardened steel bearing surface engaged by said bearing disk.

8. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, provided with a screw threaded bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore, an adjusting screw threaded into said bore, adapted to adjust said disk vertically therein, and a support for said casting having a hardened steel bearing surface engaged by said bearing disk.

9: In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting, provided with a screw threaded bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore, an adjusting screw threaded into said bore terminating short of the upper end of said bore, and adapted to adjust said disk vertically therein, a removable cap in the upper end of said bore, and a support for said casting having a hardened steel bearing surface engaged `by said bearing disk.

10. In a turn-table, in combination, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting provided with a screw threaded bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore, an adjusting post threaded into said bore adapted to adjust said disk vertically therein, and a removable cap in the up er end of 'said bore, and a standard provlded with a bore with which the bore of said casting registers, a post in said last named bore, and a hardened steel bearing disk at the top of said last named post, one of said posts extending into the opposite bore, and one of said bearing disks lieing provided with a convex bearing surace.

11. In a turn-table, a stationary standard having a hardened steel bearing, a circular track described about said bearing as a center, and a platform comprising a central, supporting casting, radial girders secured to said casting, rollers between said platform frame and said track, said casting having a central screw threaded bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore engaging said bearing on the standard, and an adjusting screw threaded into said bore adapted to adjust said bearing disk vertically in said bore, and thereby relatively adjust said rollers and their running surfaces.

12. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting rovided with a screw threaded bore, a har ened steel bearing disk in said bore, an adjusting screw threaded into said bore adapted to adjust said disk vertically therein, and a standard provided with a post extending into the bore of said casting having a hardened steel disk at the top thereof en-' gaged by said first named bearing disk.

13. In a turn-table, a platform frame comprising an integral, central, supporting casting provided with a screw threaded bore, a hardened steel bearing disk in said bore, an adjusting screw threaded into said bore adapted to adjust said disk vertically therein, and a standard provided with a post extending into the bore of said cast-ing having a hardened steel disk at the top of said post engaged by said first named bearing disk, and a sleeve surrounding said post and both of said disks to hold the same in alinement.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 14th day of May 1910.

ELMER F. SMITH.

'Witnessesz ROBERT CUSHMAN, CHARLES I). l/VooDnRRY. 

